Wartenberg wheels are some of the best- and most overlooked – sensation tools for BDSM play. These wheels with small, spikey protrusions look like medical or torture devices. If you have never used one for BDSM play, you are missing a great opportunity to incorporate a versatile tool into your kink repertoire.
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What is a Wartenberg Pinwheel?
Wartenberg Pinwheels (also known as a Wartenberg Wheel or Neurowheel) originated as a medical device. These round wheels with evenly spaced pins protruding from them were designed to roll over areas of the skin to test for neurological responses.
A similar tool is used in sewing, called a ‘ponce’ is used to transfer pattern designs from paper to cloth.
How to use the Wartenberg Pinwheel for sensation play?
The Wartenberg wheel is used to cause a wide variety of sensations in BDSM. The wheels are run over the skin, as they are in medicine, to start. The standard medical version will cause a mild tickling or pricking sensation on body parts. Increase or decrease the pressure applied to change the sensation.
Over time, a wide variety of design alternatives were introduced to change the sensations and the way a Wartenberg wheel can be used.
Use the Wartenberg Pinwheel as a warm-up toy
A simple, single wheel can be run over any part of the body to wake up the skin and prepare it for play. Whenever you engage in BDSM play, warming up the mind and body for play helps increase enjoyment of a scene. Run the wheel over someone’s thighs, buttocks, breasts, belly, back or anywhere to get a partner to start paying attention to body parts in increase blood flow.
Use the Wartenberg Pinwheel for pain play
Various wheels are designed to be sharper or more “prickly” than the original medical version. Use any version of a Wartenberg wheel and run it over the breast, areola, nipples, inner thighs, and genital areas to cause sensations from mild to intense short bursts of “sharp” or “prickly” pain. Make sure to watch and check in with a partner to get feedback about the sensations as you increase and decrease pressure of the wheel.
Be careful when running a wheel over the vulva, penis, testicles, taint or anus as certain wheel pins may pierce thinner skin and cause bleeding. While this may be desirable in some cases, make sure you and a partner have negotiated blood play and drawing blood in these areas before you engage in such play. If you do draw blood in these areas, washing with warm water and a mild soap after play will reduce chances of infection or irritation.
Use the Wartenberg Pinwheel for foot play/torture
If you and a partner enjoy foot play, using a Wartenberg wheel on feet can be both enjoyable and intense. The wheel is designed to stimulate a nerve response when run over the skin. The feet have hundreds of nerve endings. The Wartenberg Pinwheel can stimulate these nerves and cause sensations from mild tickling, to irritation, to intense pain. Try running the wheel over the different parts of the feet to see how a partner will respond. Areas of the feet with thicker skin (e.g., heels, balls of the feet) will have a lesser response to the Wartenberg Pinwheel than areas like the arch or tips of the toes.
If you practice bastinado (hitting the feet), running a Wartenberg Pinwheel is a great way to warm up the recipient.
You can also alternate running a Wartenberg Pinwheel over areas of the feet with licking, sucking or kissing. Alternating sensations can intensify sensations and improve the overall scene.
Use the Wartenberg Pinwheel as a warm-up toy for psychological play
Many people think Wartenberg wheels look like a torture device. The mere presence of these wheels on a toy table or bed can make a person nervous. If you enjoy the psychological aspects of kink and making a submissive nervous or scared, Wartenberg Pinwheels are a great option! Choosing metal models with long spikes can be especially intimidating to a partner (in a fun, sexy way).
If you and your partner(s) enjoy exploring medical play, a Wartenberg wheel is a great way to increase the reality of the play. They are, after all, originally a medical device. Try pulling on nitrile gloves with a snap and then pick up and spin the wheel in front of the submissive. Run the wheel over the parts of the body you wish to “examine.” You can also try to test the limits of the amount of pressure your partner will tolerate on different body parts as “medical research.”
What Wartenberg Pinwheel is right for you?
There are several considerations in selecting the right Wartenberg wheel for you. Materials, the number of wheels on a tool, and how you hold the wheel are things to think about before buying a wheel.
What is Wartenberg Pinwheel made of?
Wartenberg wheels for kink come in metal or plastic. Both materials have their unique attributes. Metal wheels will be more durable and longer lasting. They can be fully sterilized between uses/partners. Metal wheels also appeal aesthetically to most people. Plastic wheels tend to be more affordable, lighter, and easier to get through airport security.
You need to consider how you will use the Wartenberg Pinwheel when you buy it. What body parts will you most likely target with the wheel? Do you have hand limitations (e.g., strength considerations, dexterity)? Depending on the answers to these questions will narrow your selection. If you have arthritis in your fingers or difficulty manipulating small instruments, choosing a finger wheel is a great choice! Finger style Wartenberg Pinwheels fit on the finger like a ring. This limits the amount of fine hand motor movements and strength needed to manipulate the tool.
You will also want to consider the number of wheels on a single handle you want. While the greater number of wheels on a single handle looks much more intimidating, they are actually more gentle than single wheels with the same length and intensity of spikes. This happens because the greater the number of wheels, the more the pressure is distributed over a wider surface area.
Buying multiple styles of Wartenberg wheels is a great option! This will allow you to experiment with a wide range of sensations during a play session. Alternating the styles of wheels you use in a single session keeps the recipient from becoming too accustomed to a single sensation. This keeps the intensity up for longer during a scene.
Different Wartenberg Pinwheel styles
The Original, Single-wheel Style
The original Wartenberg Wheel is a great choice for your first wheel. The handle on these wheels is generally six to eight inches long with pins that offer mild to moderate intensity in stimulation.
This style of the wheel will allow you to experiment with a large range of pressures on any part of the body. For people with a normal range of motion and strength in their hands, this is an easy tool to use and manipulate.
Multiple-Wheel Handled Pinwheel
Wartenberg wheels come with options from one to ten wheels on a single handle.
The greater the number of wheels, the wider the head of the tool, and the more pressure is distributed over the skin. This will increase the area you stimulate with a single pass of the Wartenberg Pinwheel but decrease the intensity.
Like the single-head style wheels, intensity can be increased by adding pressure as you roll the tool over the skin.
Single-Finger Wheels
This style of Wartenberg wheels use ring-like attachments to slip over a single finger. You can push and pull the Wartenberg Pinwheel across the skin. This lessens the dexterity needed to use a Wartenberg Pinwheel and may be more comfortable for some people.
Additionally, many of the single-finger styles may be worn while handling other tools, increasing the speed you can change up items you are using on someone during a scene.
Two-Finger Wheels
The two-finger style of a Wartenberg Pinwheel fits over two fingers with a ring (or two rings).
These wheels are the easiest to use for people with hand limitations. If you have arthritis, dexterity issues, or hand strength limitations, this style will be the best option.
Other considerations when purchasing a Wartenberg Pinwheel
The length of the pins on a wheel and their sharpness will change the sensation. Longer pins translate to more “prickly” and intense sensations. The longer the pins on the wheel the further apart they will be at the tip. This increase in length between the tips of the pins will spread out the pressure and increase the intensity of each prick.
Look at the tips to see how sharp or blunt they appear and their length compared to the diameter of the wheel base. The pins on the metal finger wheel in this article are considerably sharper and more intense than the pins on any of the other wheels.
Similar toys
Vampire Gloves are somewhat in the same bucket as the Wartenberg Pinwheel tool. They are gloves that have spikes coming out from them and are used in a similar way to the pinwheel.
Bottom Line
Wartenberg Pinwheels are a versatile and easy-to-use tool for any BDSM toy bag. They work for sensation play, pain play, medical play, and much more!
Having multiple versions of these wheels will allow you to create unique, creative scenes that meet a large number of desires for both the top and the bottom.
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